Easter,
also known as Pascha (GreekΠάσχα: Passover), the Feast of the
Resurrection, the Sunday of the Resurrection, or Resurrection
Day, is the most important religious feast of the Christian
liturgical year, observed between late March and late April (early April
to early May in Eastern Christianity). It celebrates the resurrection of
Jesus, which his followers believe occurred on the third day after his
death by crucifixion some time in the period AD 27 to 33 (see Good
Friday). In the Roman Catholic Church, Easter is actually an eight-day
feast called the Octave of Easter.

Easter
also refers to the season of the church year, lasting for fifty days,
from Easter Sunday through Pentecost.

Dates
for Easter Sunday, 2000-2020

Year

Western

Eastern

2000

April
23

April
30

2001

April
15

2002

March
31

May
5

2003

April
20

April
27

2004

April
11

2005

March
27

May
1

2006

April
16

April
23

2007

April
8

2008

March
23

April
27

2009

April
12

April
19

2010

April
4

2011

April
24

2012

April
8

April
15

2013

March
31

May
5

2014

April
20

2015

April
5

April
12

2016

March
27

May
1

2017

April
16

2018

April
1

April
8

2019

April
21

April
28

2020

April
12

April
19

Etymology

In
most languages of Christian societies, other than English, German and
some Slavic languages, the holiday's name is derived from Pesach,
the Hebrew name of Passover, a Jewish holiday to which the Christian
Easter is intimately linked. Easter depends on Passover not only for
much of its symbolic meaning but also for its position in the calendar;
the Last Supper shared by Jesus and his disciples before his crucifixion
is generally thought of as a Passover seder, based on the chronology in
the Synoptic Gospels. The Gospel of John has a different chronology
which has Christ's death at the time of the slaughter of the Passover
lambs, which might have been for theological reasons but which is
regarded by some scholars as more historically likely given the
surrounding events. This would put the Last Supper slightly before
Passover, on 14 Nisan of the Bible's Hebrew calendar (Leviticus 23:5).
According to the Catholic Encyclopedia, "In fact, the Jewish feast
was taken over into the Christian Easter celebration."

The
English and German names, "Easter" and "Ostern", are
not etymologically derived from Pesach and according to the 8th
century Christian monk and historian Bede are instead related to ancient
name for the Anglo Saxon goddess, Eostre, who was celebrated during
Eosturmonath, equivalent to April/Aprilis Bede wrote in Latin:

Translated:
"Eosturmonath, which is now interpreted as the paschal month, was
formerly named after the goddess Eostre, and has given its name to the
festival."

Easter
in the early Church

The
observance of any non-Jewish special holiday throughout the Christian
year is believed by some to be an innovation postdating the Early
Church. The ecclesiastical historian Socrates Scholasticus (b. 380)
attributes the observance of Easter by the church to the perpetuation of
local custom, "just as many other customs have been
established", stating that neither Jesus nor his Apostles enjoined
the keeping of this or any other festival. However, when read in
context, this is not a rejection or denigration of the
celebration—which, given its currency in Scholasticus' time would be
surprising—but is merely part of a defense of the diverse methods for
computing its date. Indeed, although he describes the details of the
Easter celebration as deriving from local custom, he insists the feast
itself is universally observed.

The
Stations of the Cross are recited every Friday during Lent followed by
Holy Mass. The faithful are encouraged to do acts of penance and charity
during the Lenten season beyond what is prescribed by law. It is
commendable to abstain from smoking, watching too much television,
indulging in idle talk, etc. Charity includes almsgiving, kindness,
concern and helpfulness towards all, especially the old, the sick and
the unfortunate. Parents must to see to it that minors, though not bound
by the law of fast and abstinence, are educated in the authentic sense
of penance and encouraged to do acts of penance suitable to their age.
Finally, all members of the faithful are encouraged to avail themselves
of the Sacrament of Reconciliation (Confession), since it is considered
a true encounter with the loving, forgiving Saviour.

Perhaps
the earliest extant primary source referencing Easter is a 2nd century
Paschal homily by Melito of Sardis, which characterizes the celebration
as a well-established one.

A
number of ecclesiastical historians, primarily Eusebius, bishop Polycarp
of Smyrna, by tradition a disciple of John the Evangelist, disputed the
computation of the date with bishop Anicetus of Rome in what is now
known as the Quartodecimanism controversy. The term Quartodeciman
is derived from Latin, meaning fourteen, and refers to the practice of
fixing the celebration of Passover for Christians on the fourteenth day
of Nisan in the Old Testament's Hebrew Calendar (for example Lev
23:5, in Latin "quarta
decima"). In any case, early within the Church it was admitted
by both sides of the debate that the Lord's Supper was the practice of
the disciples and the tradition passed down. The Last Supper is
typically characterized as a Passover Seder.

According
to the Gospel of John (for example John
19:14), this was the Friday that Jesus was crucified in Jerusalem.
Returning to the controversy, Anicetus became bishop of the church of
Rome in the mid second century (c. AD 155). Shortly
thereafter, Polycarp visited Rome and among the topics discussed was
when the pre-Easter fast should end. Those in Asia held strictly to the
computation from the Old Testament's Hebrew calendar and ended the fast
on the 14th day of Nisan, while the Roman custom was to continue the
fast until the Sunday following. Neither Polycarp nor Anicetus was able
to convert the other to his position—according to a rather confused
account by Sozomen, both could claim Apostolic authority for their
traditions[1]—but
neither did they consider the matter of sufficient importance to justify
a schism, so they parted in peace leaving the question unsettled.
However, a generation later bishop Victor of Rome excommunicated bishop
Polycrates of Ephesus and the rest of the Asian bishops for their
adherence to 14 Nisan. The excommunication was rescinded and the two
sides reconciled upon the intervention of bishop Irenaeus of Lyons, who
reminded Victor of the tolerant precedent that had been established
earlier. In the end, a uniform method of computing the date of Easter
was not formally settled until the First Council of Nicaea in 325 (see
below), although by that time the Roman timing for the observance
had spread to most churches.

A
number of early bishops rejected the practice of celebrating Easter (Pascha)
on the first Sunday after Nisan 14. This conflict between Easter and
Passover is often referred to as the "Paschal Controversy."

The
bishops dissenting from the newer practice of Easter favored adhering to
celebrating the festival on Nisan 14 in accord with the Biblical
Passover and the tradition passed on to them by the Apostles. The
problem with Nisan 14 in the minds of some in the Western Church (who
wished to further associate Sunday and Easter) is that it was calculated
by the moon and could fall on any day of the week.

An
early example of this tension is found written by Theophilus of Caesarea
(c. AD 180; 8.774 Ante-Nicene Fathers) when he stated, "Endeavor
also to send abroad copies of our epistle among all the churches, so
that those who easily deceive their own souls may not be able to lay the
blame on us. We would have you know, too, that in Alexandria also they
observe the festival on the same day as ourselves. For the Paschal
letters are sent from us to them, and from them to us—so that we
observe the holy day in unison and together."

Polycarp,
a disciple of John, likewise adhered to a Nisan 14 observance. Irenaeus,
who observed the "first Sunday" rule notes of Polycarp (one of
the Bishops of Asia Minor), "For Anicetus could not persuade
Polycarp to forgo the observance [of his Nisan 14 practice] inasmuch as
these things had been always observed by John the disciple of the Lord,
and by other apostles with whom he had been conversant." (c. AD
180; 1.569 "Ante-Nicene Church Fathers"). Irenaeus notes that
this was not only Polycarp's practice, but that this was the practice of
John the disciple and the other apostles that Polycarp knew.

Polycrates
(c. AD 190) emphatically notes this is the tradition passed down to him,
that Passover and Unleavened Bread were kept on Nisan 14 in accord with
the local interpretation of the dating of Passover: "As for us,
then, we scrupulously observe the exact day, neither adding nor taking
away. [Deut
4:2,12:32]
For in Asia great luminaries have gone to their rest who will rise again
on the day of the coming of the Lord.... These all kept Easter on the
fourteenth day, in accordance with the Gospel.... Seven of my relatives
were bishops, and I am the eighth, and my relatives always observed the
day when the people put away the leaven" (8.773, 8.744
"Ante-Nicene Church Fathers").

The
Nisan 14 practice, which was strong among the churches of Asia Minor,
becomes less common as the desire for Church unity on the question came
to favor the majority practice. By the 3rd century the Church, which had
become Gentile-dominated and wishing to further distinguish itself from
Jewish practices, began a tone of rhetoric against Nisan 14/Passover
(e.g. Anatolius of Laodicea, c. AD 270; 6.148,6.149 "Ante-Nicene
Church Fathers"). The tradition that Easter was to be celebrated
"not with the Jews" meant that Easter was not to be celebrated
on Nisan 14.

Date
of Easter

In
Western Christianity, Easter always falls on a Sunday from March 22 to
April 25 inclusive. The following day, Easter Monday, is a legal holiday
in many countries with predominantly Christian traditions. In Eastern
Christianity, Easter falls between April 4 and May 8 between 1900 and
1970 based on the Gregorian date.

Easter
and the holidays that are related to it are moveable feasts, in
that they do not fall on a fixed date in the Gregorian or Julian
calendars (which follow the motion of the sun and the seasons). Instead,
they are based on a lunar calendar similar—but not identical—to the
Hebrew Calendar. The precise date of Easter has often been a matter for
contention.

At
the First Council of Nicaea in 325 it was decided that Easter would be
celebrated on the same Sunday throughout the Church, but it is probable
that no method was specified by the Council. (No contemporary account of
the Council's decisions has survived.) Instead, the matter seems to have
been referred to the church of Alexandria, which city had the best
reputation for scholarship at the time. The Catholic Epiphanius wrote in
the mid-4th Century, "...the emperor...convened a council of 318
bishops...in the city of Nicea...They passed certain ecclesiastical
canons at the council besides, and at the same time decreed in regard to
the Passover that there must be one unanimous concord on the celebration
of God's holy and supremely excellent day. For it was variously observed
by people..."(Epiphanius. The Panarion of Epiphanius of Salamis,
Books II and III (Sects 47–80), De Fide). Section VI, Verses 1,1 and
1,3. Translated by Frank Williams. EJ Brill, New York, 1994,
pp.471–472).

The
practice of those following Alexandria was to celebrate Easter on the
first Sunday after the earliest fourteenth day of a lunar month that
occurred on or after March 21. While since the Middle Ages this practice
has sometimes been more succinctly phrased as Easter is observed on
the Sunday after the first full moon on or after the day of the vernal
equinox, this does not reflect the actual ecclesiastical rules
precisely. The reason for this is that the full moon involved (called
the Paschal full moon) is not an astronomical full moon, but an
ecclesiastical moon. Determined from tables, it coincides more or less
with the astronomical full moon.

The
ecclesiastical rules are:

Easter
falls on the first Sunday following the first ecclesiastical full
moon that occurs on or after March
21 (the day of the ecclesiastical vernal equinox).

This
particular ecclesiastical full moon is the 14th day of a tabular
lunation (new moon).

The
Church of Rome used its own methods to determine Easter until the 6th
century, when it may have adopted the Alexandrian method as converted
into the Julian calendar by Dionysius Exiguus (certain proof of this
does not exist until the ninth century). Most churches in the British
Isles used a late third century Roman method to determine Easter until
they adopted the Alexandrian method at the Synod of Whitby in 664.
Churches in western continental Europe used a late Roman method until
the late 8th century during the reign of Charlemagne, when they finally
adopted the Alexandrian method. Since western churches now use the
Gregorian calendar to calculate the date and Eastern Orthodox churches
use the original Julian calendar, their dates are not usually aligned in
the present day.

In
the United Kingdom, the Easter Act of 1928 set out legislation to allow
the date of Easter to be fixed as the first Sunday after the second
Saturday in April. However, the legislation was never implemented.

At
a summit in Aleppo, Syria, in 1997, the World Council of Churches
proposed a reform in the calculation of Easter which would have replaced
an equation-based method of calculating Easter with direct astronomical
observation; this would have side-stepped the calendar issue and
eliminated the difference in date between the Eastern and Western
churches. The reform was proposed for implementation starting in 2001,
but it was not ultimately adopted by any member body.

A
few clergymen of various denominations have advanced the notion of
disregarding the moon altogether in determining the date of Easter;
proposals include always observing the feast on the second Sunday in
April, or always having seven Sundays between the Epiphany and Ash
Wednesday, producing the same result except that in leap years Easter
could fall on April 7. These suggestions have yet to attract significant
support, and their adoption in the future is considered unlikely.

Computations

The
calculations for the date of Easter are somewhat complicated. See
computus for a discussion covering both the traditional tabular methods
and more exclusively mathematical algorithms such as the one developed
by mathematician Carl Friedrich Gauss.

In
the Western Church, Easter has not fallen on the earliest of the 35
possible dates, March 22, since 1818, and will not do so again until
2285. It will, however, fall on March 23, just one day after its
earliest possible date, in 2008. Easter last fell on the latest possible
date, April 25 in 1943, and will next fall on that date in 2038.
However, it will fall on April 24, just one day before this latest
possible date, in 2011.

Position
in the church year

Liturgical
year

Western

Advent

Christmastide

Epiphany

Lent

Easter
season

Feast
of the Ascension

Pentecost

Ordinary
Time (Kingdomtide)

Eastern

Feast
of Cross

Nativity
Fast

Nativity

Theophany

Great
Lent

Pascha

Pentecost

Transfiguration

Dormition

Protection

Western
Christianity

In
Western Christianity, Easter marks the end of the forty days of Lent, a
period of fasting and penitence in preparation for Easter which begins
on Ash Wednesday.

The
week before Easter is very special in the Christian tradition: the
Sunday before is Palm Sunday, and the last three days before Easter are
Maundy Thursday or Holy Thursday, Good Friday and Holy Saturday
(sometimes referred to as Silent Saturday). Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday
and Good Friday respectively commemorate Jesus' entry in Jerusalem, the
Last Supper and the Crucifixion. Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and Holy
Saturday are sometimes referred to as the Easter Triduum (Latin for
"Three Days"). In some countries, Easter lasts two days, with
the second called "Easter Monday". The week beginning with
Easter Sunday is called Easter Week or the Octave of Easter, and each
day is prefaced with "Easter", e.g. Easter Monday, Easter
Tuesday, etc. Easter Saturday is therefore the Saturday after
Easter Sunday. The day before Easter is properly called Holy Saturday.
Many churches start celebrating Easter late in the evening of Holy
Saturday at a service called the Easter Vigil.

Eastertide,
the season of Easter, begins on Easter Sunday and lasts until the day of
Pentecost, seven weeks later.

Eastern
Christianity

In
Eastern Christianity, preparations begin with Great Lent. Following the
fifth Sunday of Great Lent is Palm Week, which ends with Lazarus
Saturday. Lazarus Saturday officially brings Great Lent to a close,
although the fast continues for the following week. After Lazarus
Saturday comes Palm Sunday, Holy Week, and finally Easter itself, or
Pascha (Πάσχα), and the fast is broken
immediately after the Divine Liturgy. Easter is immediately followed by
Bright Week, during which there is no fasting, even on Wednesday and
Friday.

Nicholas
Roerich - Russian Pascha service midnight

The
Paschal Service consists of Paschal Matins, Hours, and Liturgy, which
traditionally begins at midnight of Pascha morning. Placing the Paschal
Divine Liturgy at midnight guarantees that no Divine Liturgy will come
earlier in the morning, ensuring its place as the pre-eminent
"Feast of Feasts" in the liturgical year.

Religious
observation of Easter

Western
Christianity

The
Easter festival is kept in many different ways among Western Christians.
The traditional, liturgical observation of Easter, as practised among
Roman Catholics and some Lutherans and Anglicans begins on the night of
Holy Saturday with the Easter Vigil. This, the most important liturgy of
the year, begins in total darkness with the blessing of the Easter fire,
the lighting of the large Paschal candle (symbolic of the Risen Christ)
and the chanting of the Exsultet or Easter Proclamation attributed to
Saint Ambrose of Milan. After this service of light, a number of
readings from the Old Testament are read; these tell the stories of
creation, the sacrifice of Isaac, the crossing of the Red Sea, and the
foretold coming of the Messiah. This part of the service climaxes with
the singing of the Alleluia and the proclamation of the gospel of the
resurrection. A sermon may be preached after the gospel. Then the focus
moves from the lectern to the font. Anciently, Easter was considered the
most perfect time to receive baptism, and this practice is alive in
Roman Catholicism, as it is the time when new members are initiated into
the Church, and it is being revived in some other circles.

Whether
there are baptisms at this point or not, it is traditional for the
congregation to renew the vows of their baptismal faith. This act is
often sealed by the sprinkling of the congregation with holy water from
the font. The Catholic sacrament of Confirmation is also celebrated at
the Vigil. The Easter Vigil concludes with the celebration of the
Eucharist (or 'Holy Communion'). Certain variations in the Easter Vigil
exist: Some churches read the Old Testament lessons before the
procession of the Paschal candle, and then read the gospel immediately
after the Exsultet. Some churches prefer to keep this vigil very early
on the Sunday morning instead of the Saturday night, particularly
Protestant churches, to reflect the gospel account of the women coming
to the tomb at dawn on the first day of the week. These services are
known as the Sunrise service and often occur in outdoor setting such as
the church's yard or a nearby park.

Additional
celebrations are usually offered on Easter Sunday itself. Typically
these services follow the usual order of Sunday services in a
congregation, but also typically incorporate more highly festive
elements. The music of the service, in particular, often displays a
highly festive tone; the incorporation of brass instruments (trumpets,
etc.) to supplement a congregation's usual instrumentation is common.
Often a congregation's worship space is decorated with special banners
and flowers (such as Easter lilies).

In
predominantly Roman Catholic Philippines,
the morning of Easter (known in the national language as "Pasko ng
Muling Pagkabuhay" or the Pasch of the Resurrection) is marked with
joyous celebration, the first being the dawn "Salubong",
wherein large statues of Jesus and Mary are brought together to meet,
imagining the first reunion of Jesus and his mother Mary after Jesus'
Resurrection. This is followed by the joyous Easter Mass.

Some
Christians wear their Sunday best to Church. This means a more formal
dress and hats for some women.

In
Polish culture, The Rezurekcja (Resurrection Procession) is the joyous
Easter morning Mass at daybreak when church bells ring out and
explosions resound to commemorate Christ rising from the dead. Before
the Mass begins at dawn, a festive procession with the Blessed Sacrament
carried beneath a canopy encircles the church. As church bells ring out,
handbells are vigorously shaken by altar boys, the air is filled with
incense and the faithful raise their voices heavenward in a triumphant
rendering of age-old Easter hymns. After the Blessed Sacrament is
carried around the church and Adoration is complete, the Easter Mass
begins.

Eastern
Christianity

Easter
is the fundamental and most important festival of the Eastern and
Oriental Orthodox. Every other religious festival on their calendars,
including Christmas, is secondary in importance to the celebration of
the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. This is reflected in the cultures of
countries that are traditionally Orthodox Christian majority.
Easter-connected social customs are native and rich. Christmas customs,
on the other hand, are usually foreign imports, either from Germany or
the USA.
Eastern Catholics have similar emphasis in their calendars, and many of
their liturgical customs are very similar.

This
is not to say that Christmas and other elements of the Christian
liturgical calendar are ignored. Instead, these events are all seen as
necessary but preliminary to the full climax of the Resurrection,
in which all that has come before reaches fulfilment and fruition.
Pascha (Easter) is the primary act that fulfils the purpose of Christ's
ministry on earth—to defeat death by dying and to purify and exalt
humanity by voluntarily assuming and overcoming human frailty. This is
succinctly summarized by the Paschal troparion, sung repeatedly during
Pascha until the Apodosis of Pascha (which is the day before Ascension):

Christ
is risen from the dead,

Trampling
down death by death,

And
upon those in the tombs

Bestowing
life!

Celebration
of the holiday begins with the "ante-celebration" of Great
Lent. In addition to fasting, almsgiving, and prayer, Orthodox cut down
on all entertainment and non-essential activity, gradually eliminating
them until Great and Holy Friday. Traditionally, on the evening of Great
and Holy Saturday, the Midnight Office is celebrated shortly after 11:00
pm. At its completion all light in the church building is extinguished.
A new flame is struck in the altar, or the priest lights his candle from
a perpetual lamp kept burning there, and he then lights candles held by
deacons or other assistants, who then go to light candles held by the
congregation. Then the priest and congregation process around the church
building, holding lit candles, re-entering ideally at the stroke of
midnight, whereupon Matins begins immediately followed by the Paschal
Hours and then the Divine Liturgy. Immediately after the Liturgy it is
customary for the congregation to share a meal, essentially an agape
dinner (albeit at 2.00 am or later!)

The
Holy Fire in Jerusalem, celebrated on Holy Saturday, has been

described
as the oldest miracle-related ceremony in Christendom

The
day after, Easter Sunday proper, there is no liturgy, since the liturgy
for that day has already been celebrated. Instead, in the afternoon, it
is often traditional to hold "Agape vespers". In this service,
it has become customary during the last few centuries for the priest and
members of the congregation to read a portion of the Gospel of John
(20:19–25 or 19–31) in as many languages as they can manage.

For
the remainder of the week (known as "Bright Week"), all
fasting is prohibited, and the customary greeting is "Christ is
risen!", to be responded with "Truly He is risen!"

Non-religious
Easter traditions

As
with many other Christian dates, the celebration of Easter extends
beyond the church. Since its origins, it has been a time of celebration
and feasting. Today it is commercially important, seeing wide sales of
greeting cards and confectionery such as chocolate Easter eggs,
marshmallow bunnies, Peeps, and jelly beans.

Despite
the religious preeminence of Easter, in many traditionally Christian
countries Christmas is
now a more prominent event in the calendar year, being unrivaled as a
festive season, commercial opportunity, and time of family gathering —
even for those of no or only nominal faith. Easter's relatively modest
secular observances place it a distant second or third among the less
religiously inclined where Christmas is so prominent.

America
and parts of UK

Throughout
North America and parts of the UK, the Easter holiday has been partially
secularized, so that some families participate only in the attendant
revelry, central to which is decorating Easter eggs on Saturday evening
and hunting for them Sunday morning, by which time they have been
mysteriously hidden all over the house and garden. According to the
children's stories, the eggs were hidden overnight and other treats
delivered by the Easter Bunny in an Easter basket which children find
waiting for them when they wake up. The Easter Bunny's motives for doing
this are seldom clarified. Many families in America will attend Sunday
Mass or services in the morning and then participate in a feast or party
in the afternoon.

Belgium

Belgium
shares the same traditions as North America but sometimes it's said that
the Bells of Rome bring the Easter Eggs together with the Easter Bunny.
The story goes that the bells of every church leave for Rome on Saturday
which is called "Stille Zaterdag" which means "Silent
Saturday" in Dutch. So because the bells are in Rome, the bells
don't ring anywhere.

Scandinavia

In
Norway, in addition
to skiing in the mountains and painting eggs for decorating, it is
tradition to solve murders at Easter. All the major television channels
show crime and detective stories (such as Poirot), magazines
print stories where the readers can try to figure out who did it, and
many new books are published. Even the milk cartons change to have
murder stories on their sides. Another tradition is Yahtzee games. In Finland
and Sweden,
traditions include egg painting and small children dressed as witches
collecting candy door-to-door, in exchange for decorated pussy willows.
This is a result of the mixing of an old Orthodox tradition (blessing
houses with willow branches) and the Scandinavian Easter witch
tradition. Fake feathers and little decorations are also placed on
willow branches in a vase. For lunch/dinner on Holy Saturday, families
traditionally feast on a smörgĺsbord of herring, salmon, potatoes,
eggs and other kinds of food. In Finland, the Lutheran majority enjoys mämmi
as another traditional easter treat, while the Orthodox minority's
traditions include eating pasha instead.

People
watching the Easter Fire in 'De Achterhoek' in eastern Netherlands

Netherlands

In
the eastern part of the Netherlands (Twente and Achterhoek), Easter
Fires (in Dutch: "Paasvuur") are lit on Easter Day at sunset.

Central
Europe

In
the Czech
Republic, Hungary and Slovakia, a tradition of spanking or whipping
is carried out on Easter Monday. In the morning, males throw water at
females and spank them with a special handmade whip called pomlázka
(in Czech) or korbáč (in Slovak). The pomlázka/korbáč
consists of eight, twelve or even twenty-four withies (willow rods), is
usually from half a metre to two metres long and decorated with coloured
ribbons at the end. It must be mentioned that spanking normally is not
painfull or intended to cause suffering. A legend says that females
should be spanked in order to keep their health and beauty during whole
next year. An additional purpose can be for males to exhibit their
attraction to females; unvisited females can even feel offended.
Traditionally, the spanked female gives a coloured egg and sometimes a
small amount of money to the male as a sign of her thanks. In some
regions the females can get revenge in the afternoon or the following
day when they can pour a bucket of cold water on any male. The habit
slightly varies across Slovakia and the Czech Republic. A similar
tradition existed in Poland
(where it is called Dyngus Day), but it is now little more than an
all-day water fight.

In
Hungary (where it
is called Ducking Monday), perfume or perfumed water is often sprinkled
in exchange for an Easter egg.

Easter
controversies

The
Easter Controversy

The
controversy that is explicitly called The Easter Controversy
covers many arguments concerning the proper date to celebrate Easter.

Christian
denominations that do not observe Easter

Easter
traditions deemed "pagan" by some Reformation leaders, along
with Christmas celebrations, were among the first casualties of some
areas of the Protestant Reformation. Other Reformation Churches, such as
the Lutheran and Anglican, retained a very full observance of the Church
Year. In Lutheran Churches, not only were the days of Holy Week
observed, but also Christmas, Easter, and Pentecost were observed with
three day festivals, including the day itself and the two following.
Among the other Reformation traditions, things were a bit different.
These holidays were eventually restored (though Christmas only became a
legal holiday in Scotland in 1967, after the Church of Scotland finally
relaxed its objections). Some Christians (usually, but not always
fundamentalists), however, continue to reject the celebration of Easter
(and, often, of Christmas), because they believe them to be irrevocably
tainted with paganism and idolatry.

Their
rejection of these traditions is based partly on the words of 2
Corinthians 6:14-16. "Be ye not unequally yoked together with
unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with
unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? And what
concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth
with an infidel? And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols?
for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell
in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my
people." (King James Version)

That
is also the view of Jehovah's Witnesses, who instead observe a yearly
commemorative service of the Last Supper and subsequent death of Christ
on the evening of 14 Nisan, as they calculate it derived from the lunar
Hebrew Calendar. It is commonly referred to, in short, by many Witnesses
as simply "The Memorial". Jehovah's Witnesses claim that such
verses as Luke 22:19, 20 constitute a commandment to remember the death
of Christ, and they do so on a yearly basis just as the Passover is
celebrated yearly by the Jews.

Some
groups feel that Easter, or as they prefer to call it,
"Resurrection Sunday (Day)", is properly regarded with great
joy, but marking not the day itself, but remembering and rejoicing in
the message it commemorates—in Christ's resurrection. In this spirit,
these Christians teach that each day and all Sabbaths should be kept
holy, in Christ's teachings.

Other
groups, such as the Sabbatarian Church of God, claim to keep the feasts
and commandments of God given in the Bible, which includes a Christian
Passover that lacks most of the practices or symbols associated with
Western Easter and retains more features of the Passover observed by
Jesus Christ at The Last Supper.

Etymology
and the origins of Easter traditions

In
his De temporum ratione the Venerable Bede wrote that the month
Eostremonat (Eosturmonath) (April) was so named because of a goddess,
Eostre, who had formerly been worshipped in that month. In recent years
some scholars have suggested that a lack of supporting documentation for
this goddess might indicate that Bede assumed her existence based on the
name of the month. Others note that Bede's status as "the Father of
English History", having been the author of the first substantial
history of England ever written, might make the lack of additional
mention for a goddess whose worship had already died out by Bede's time
unsurprising. The debate receives considerable attention because the
name 'Easter' is derived from Eostremonat (Eosturmonath), and thus,
according to Bede, from the pagan goddess Eostre, though this etymology
is disputed.See: Wright L.M.'Christianity, Astrology And Myth',
(2002),Oak Hill Free Press, USA. ISBN: 0- 9518796-1-8

Jakob
Grimm took up the question of Eostre in his Deutsche Mythologie of 1835,
noting that Ostaramanoth was etymologically related to Eostremonat (Eosturmonath)
and writing of various landmarks and customs related to the goddess
Ostara in Germany. Again, because of a lack of written documentation,
critics suggest that Grimm took Bede's mention of a goddess Eostre at
face value and constructed the goddess Ostara around existing Germanic
customs which may have arisen independently. Others point to Grimm's
stated intent to gather and record oral traditions which might otherwise
be lost as explanation for the lack of further documentation. Amongst
other traditions, Grimm connected the 'Osterhase' (Easter Bunny) and
Easter Eggs to the goddess Ostara/Eostre. He also cites various place
names in Germany as being evidence of Ostara, but critics contend that
the close etymological relationship between Ostara and the words for
'east' and 'dawn' could mean that these place names referred to either
of those two things rather than a goddess.

Bede's
Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum ("Ecclesiastic
History of the English People") contains a letter from Pope Gregory
I to Saint Mellitus, who was then on his way to England
to conduct missionary work among the heathen Anglo-Saxons. The Pope
suggests that converting heathens is easier if they are allowed to
retain the outward forms of their traditional pagan practices and
traditions, while recasting those traditions spiritually towards
Christianity instead of to their indigenous gods (whom the Pope refers
to as "devils"), "to the end that, whilst some
gratifications are outwardly permitted them, they may the more easily
consent to the inward consolations of the grace of God". The Pope
sanctioned such conversion tactics as biblically acceptable, pointing
out that God did much the same thing with the ancient Israelites and
their pagan sacrifices. If his statement on the origin of the name
"Easter" is accurate, this practice might explain the
incorporation of Eostre traditions into the Christian holiday.

However,
the giving of eggs at spring festivals was not restricted to Germanic
peoples and could be found among the Persians, Romans,
Jews and the Armenians. They were a widespread symbol of rebirth and
resurrection and thus might have been adopted from any number of
sources.

Easter
alleged a Babylonian festival

Some
suggest an etymological relationship between Eostre and the Babylonian
goddess Ishtar (variant spelling: Eshtar) and the possibility that
aspects of an ancient festival accompanied the name, claiming that the
worship of Bel and Astarte was anciently introduced into Britain, and
that the hot cross buns of Good Friday and dyed eggs of Easter Sunday
figured in the Chaldean rites just as they do now.

Claiming
a connection between Ishtar and Easter is an example of false etymology
and ignores the fact that Easter is called "Passover" in
almost every other language in the world. (The only exceptions appear to
be the languages of those people who first learned Christianity at the
hands of English or other Anglophone missionaries.) Examples of this are
the Hebrew Pesach; the Greek Paskha; the Latin Pascha;
the Italian Pasqua; the Spanish La Pascua; and Scots
Gaelic An Casca. The holiday was not called "Easter"
until the 8th Century, by which time it had already been in existence
for 700 years.